GPS Help Please.....

kennyd · Oct 24, 2009

radioman said:
scott vt- I am not sure what type of truck driving you are doing, but if you are delivering to new homes, chances are is the gps may or may not know where to find it since its too new of a palce and not added to the database. you just gotta use a lower house number or nearby street and go from there. Just a tip. I prefer the gps's you can add your own poi as that is what I do.

Same thing happens with maps...and they take a lot longer to get updated!

hilld · Oct 24, 2009

When I was the Director of Logistics for a very large nursery, we used PC Miler to do routing for us. You simply input all of the stops, and then let the software auto re-route the loop.

I am not sure how much the software costs now, but it was very effective and they updated the maps several times a year. It would also give you total miles, just in case you are paid/charged that way. We would pay the miles based on PC Miler (avoiding small roads, or roads that are truck restricted).

Derek

Ductape · Oct 25, 2009

I'll just warn you Scotty........ don't get one of those talking GPSs! I get lost all the time because mine has a sultry female voice, and i'll be darned if I'm gonna trust directions from a woman !!

Usually leaves me turning left when she says turn right.

Reg · Oct 25, 2009

Scott,

Tell us a bit more ?
Are these items that all get collected and brought to one place ? {Gather towards home}
Are they "all the same" and have to be delivered to many places ? {Scatter out from home}
Are they all different, each to be delivered to a specific place (UPS style, truck packing sequence often matters).
Some mix of the above ?

I can probably help you understand what else you will have to do to the route beyond what the gps does for mere shortest distance or fastest time between all the stops.
Bridge, weight, width and length restrictions are a part of this, but only a PART.

polo1665 · Oct 25, 2009

Reg said:
Scott,

Tell us a bit more ?
Are these items that all get collected and brought to one place ? {Gather towards home}
Are they "all the same" and have to be delivered to many places ? {Scatter out from home}
Are they all different, each to be delivered to a specific place (UPS style, truck packing sequence often matters).
Some mix of the above ?

I can probably help you understand what else you will have to do to the route beyond what the gps does for mere shortest distance or fastest time between all the stops.
Bridge, weight, width and length restrictions are a part of this, but only a PART.

If I remember correctly, I believe he drives a tanker truck, delivering fuel or some other hazardous payload.

Mark

scott_vt · Oct 25, 2009

Reg said:
Scott,

Tell us a bit more ?
Are these items that all get collected and brought to one place ? {Gather towards home}
Are they "all the same" and have to be delivered to many places ? {Scatter out from home}
Are they all different, each to be delivered to a specific place (UPS style, truck packing sequence often matters).
Some mix of the above ?

I can probably help you understand what else you will have to do to the route beyond what the gps does for mere shortest distance or fastest time between all the stops.
Bridge, weight, width and length restrictions are a part of this, but only a PART.

Good Mornin Guys,
Some very good suggestions, and Im definitely learning as this topic gets discussed here!

Im delivering home heating oil, clear diesel, dyed diesel and dyed kerosene to a very wide customer base throughout the eastern portions of Ct, predominately along the shoreline.

I also transport various petroleum products in bulk from one end of the state to our home facility in Branford, Ct.

My original hope was that there was a GPS on the market that would take anywhere between 20 to 30 stops and route them in a logical manner !

I looked over the link that Mark provided on the Garmin, but I wish there was more detail on entering data and how the GPS computes the routes. Maybe Im just not seeing it.

In any event thanks for the suggestions so far !

scott_vt · Oct 25, 2009

Ductape said:
I'll just warn you Scotty........ don't get one of those talking GPSs! I get lost all the time because mine has a sultry female voice, and i'll be darned if I'm gonna trust directions from a woman !! Usually leaves me turning left when she says turn right.

Good Mornin Scott,
Male voice all the way, I dont need any additional distractions !

Reg · Oct 25, 2009

For new addresses and even some old obscure ones I use Google maps if Street Atlas can't find it.
If the client warns me of something a bit unusual for a big truck & trailer I will often check it out on Google Earth as well.
At 1,000 ft churches and farm buildings are quite distinct vs single family homes, so I can identify some landmarks from the air.

a_NOTHER thing with software maps is that you can GENERALLY turn on town and zip code boundaries and as many of us in New England know a street will change names at the town boundary. The really NASTY ONE is when a street keeps the same name, but suddenly you realize that the numbers on the mail boxes have changed range and are now counting UP instead of DOWN like they were a minute ago.

Here's one for you that might be "a bit close to home";
White Hill Road, East Ryegate, VT
It also is in Barnet, but it has the same name and the numbering changes.
Not only that, but according to the post office addresses on the west side of the road in Barnet are actually in East Ryegate. SOME of the residents seem to believe it too, but some know the joke.
Symms Pond Road and White Hill seem to form the "local lore" definition of Barnet in East Ryegate as a U shape.

This is where a package with a phone directory can help.
The phone company seems to have kept a lot of data about where they laid copper wire a long time ago, it isn't perfect but it can often give you the second guess that you need.

Again, some of this only matters for SOME items in SOME businesses - in mine it matters a great deal, which is why I know about it (-:

Reg · Oct 25, 2009

OK, so you GENERALLY want to be unloading (delivering) on the way out and come back empty.
There are probably MANY cases that wouldn't work naturally, i.e. shortest might be a loop, but lowest ton-miles might be a zig-zag out and empty return,
You are also fire/hazmat limited, so SOME of PCMiler or the Garmin 465-T would be valuable to you.
I have seen the Garmin 465-T on display at Best Buy, mounted in a cradle where I could "test drive" it.
At the time I didn't have enough time to configure a truck and try a route between two points close to each other with a restriction that I could think of on the most obvious route.
That would be worth figuring ahead of time, then downsize the truck to see if it will go under that 12ft bridge that you KNOW is there (-:

scott_vt · Oct 25, 2009

Reg said:
OK, so you GENERALLY want to be unloading (delivering) on the way out and come back empty.
There are probably MANY cases that wouldn't work naturally, i.e. shortest might be a loop, but lowest ton-miles might be a zig-zag out and empty return,
You are also fire/hazmat limited, so SOME of PCMiler or the Garmin 465-T would be valuable to you.
I have seen the Garmin 465-T on display at Best Buy, mounted in a cradle where I could "test drive" it.
At the time I didn't have enough time to configure a truck and try a route between two points close to each other with a restriction that I could think of on the most obvious route.
That would be worth figuring ahead of time, then downsize the truck to see if it will go under that 12ft bridge that you KNOW is there (-:

Good Mornin Reg,
Thankyou !

So Im under the impression that I could take 20 different waypoints or stops in street language, program them all in, multiple towns etc, and have the 465 map out the route, is this correct ?

Yes there are time when I will be making a detour, and the route will need to be recalculated !